March 7 – Spiritual Caste – 1 Cor 4:9
9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.
Paul then addresses the unfair situation but he also using a plot to provoke his readers to think about what they are doing. Paul uses the Roman habit of displaying conquered prisoners on display. It is a powerful picture one the Corinthian are very familiar. One that would become a reality later. The apostles are led into an arena to die. They have been made a spectacle to three realms, the universe, or the world. To the angelic or spiritual realm and lastly to human beings as well. This is a graphic illustration of how the apostles had become viewed by the false teachers and the spiritual elites in the Corinthian church. False teachers always set up classes and divisions among people. It is like a spiritual caste system.
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